The MultiArray concept defines an interface to hierarchically nested containers. It specifies operations for accessing elements, traversing containers, and creating views of array data. MultiArray defines a flexible memory model that accomodates a variety of data layouts. At each level (or dimension) of a MultiArray's container hierarchy lie a set of ordered containers, each of which contains the same number and type of values. The depth of this container hierarchy is the MultiArray's dimensionality. MultiArray is recursively defined; the containers at each level of the container hierarchy model MultiArray as well. While each dimension of a MultiArray has its own size, the list of sizes for all dimensions defines the shape of the entire MultiArray. At the base of this hierarchy lie 1-dimensional MultiArrays. Their values are the contained objects of interest and not part of the container hierarchy. These are the MultiArray's elements. Like other container concepts, MultiArray exports iterators to traverse its values. In addition, values can be addressed directly using the familiar bracket notation. MultiArray also specifies routines for creating specialized views. A view lets you treat a subset of the underlying elements in a MultiArray as though it were a separate MultiArray. Since a view refers to the same underlying elements, changes made to a view's elements will be reflected in the original MultiArray. For example, given a 3-dimensional "cube" of elements, a 2-dimensional slice can be viewed as if it were an independent MultiArray. Views are created using index_gen and index_range objects. index_ranges denote elements from a certain dimension that are to be included in a view. index_gen aggregates range data and performs bookkeeping to determine the view type to be returned. MultiArray's operator[] must be passed the result of N chained calls to index_gen::operator[], i.e. indices[a0][a1]...[aN]; where N is the MultiArray's dimensionality and indices an object of type index_gen. The view type is dependent upon the number of degenerate dimensions specified to index_gen. A degenerate dimension occurs when a single-index is specified to index_gen for a certain dimension. For example, if indices is an object of type index_gen, then the following example: indices[index_range(0,5)][2][index_range(0,4)]; has a degenerate second dimension. The view generated from the above specification will have 2 dimensions with shape 5 x 2. If the "2" above were replaced with another index_range object, for example: indices[index_range(0,5)][index_range(0,2)][index_range(0,4)]; then the view would have 3 dimensions. MultiArray exports information regarding the memory layout of its contained elements. Its memory model for elements is completely defined by 4 properties: the origin, shape, index bases, and strides. The origin is the address in memory of the element accessed as a[0][0]...[0], where a is a MultiArray. The shape is a list of numbers specifying the size of containers at each dimension. For example, the first extent is the size of the outermost container, the second extent is the size of its subcontainers, and so on. The index bases are a list of signed values specifying the index of the first value in a container. All containers at the same dimension share the same index base. Note that since positive index bases are possible, the origin need not exist in order to determine the location in memory of the MultiArray's elements. The strides determine how index values are mapped to memory offsets. They accomodate a number of possible element layouts. For example, the elements of a 2 dimensional array can be stored by row (i.e., the elements of each row are stored contiguously) or by column (i.e., the elements of each column are stored contiguously). What follows are the descriptions of symbols that will be used to describe the MultiArray interface. A A type that is a model of MultiArray a An object of type A NumDims The numeric dimension parameter associated with A. Dims Some numeric dimension parameter such that 0<Dims<NumDims. indices An object created by some number of chained calls to index_gen::operator[](index_range). index_list An object whose type models Collection idx A signed integral value. tmp An object of type boost::array<index,NumDims> Type Description value_type This is the value type of the container. If NumDims == 1, then this is element. Otherwise, this is the value type of the immediately nested containers. reference This is the reference type of the contained value. If NumDims == 1, then this is element&. Otherwise, this is the same type as template subarray<NumDims-1>::type. const_reference This is the const reference type of the contained value. If NumDims == 1, then this is const element&. Otherwise, this is the same type as template const_subarray<NumDims-1>::type. size_type This is an unsigned integral type. It is primarily used to specify array shape. difference_type This is a signed integral type used to represent the distance between two iterators. It is the same type as std::iterator_traits<iterator>::difference_type. iterator This is an iterator over the values of A. If NumDims == 1, then it models Random Access Iterator. Otherwise it models Random Access Traversal Iterator, Readable Iterator, and Writable Iterator. const_iterator This is the const iterator over the values of A. reverse_iterator This is the reversed iterator, used to iterate backwards over the values of A. const_reverse_iterator This is the reversed const iterator. A. element This is the type of objects stored at the base of the hierarchy of MultiArrays. It is the same as template subarray<1>::value_type index This is a signed integral type used for indexing into A. It is also used to represent strides and index bases. index_gen This type is used to create a tuple of index_ranges passed to operator[] to create an array_view<Dims>::type object. index_range This type specifies a range of indices over some dimension of a MultiArray. This range will be visible through an array_view<Dims>::type object. template subarray<Dims>::type This is subarray type with Dims dimensions. It is the reference type of the (NumDims - Dims) dimension of A and also models MultiArray. template const_subarray<Dims>::type This is the const subarray type. template array_view<Dims>::type This is the view type with Dims dimensions. It is returned by calling operator[](indices). It models MultiArray. template const_array_view<Dims>::type This is the const view type with Dims dimensions. Expression Return type Semantics a.shape() const size_type* This returns a list of NumDims elements specifying the extent of each array dimension. a.strides() const index* This returns a list of NumDims elements specifying the stride associated with each array dimension. When accessing values, strides is used to calculate an element's location in memory. a.index_bases() const index* This returns a list of NumDims elements specifying the numeric index of the first element for each array dimension. a.origin() element* if a is mutable, const element* otherwise. This returns the address of the element accessed by the expression a[0][0]...[0].. If the index bases are positive, this element won't exist, but the address can still be used to locate a valid element given its indices. a.num_dimensions() size_type This returns the number of dimensions of the array (note that a.num_dimensions() == NumDims). a.num_elements() size_type This returns the number of elements contained in the array. It is equivalent to the following code: std::accumulate(a.shape(),a.shape+a.num_dimensions(), size_type(1),std::multiplies<size_type>()); a.size() size_type This returns the number of values contained in a. It is equivalent to a.shape()[0]; a(index_list) element&; if a is mutable, const element& otherwise. This expression accesses a specific element of a.index_list is the unique set of indices that address the element returned. It is equivalent to the following code (disregarding intermediate temporaries): // multiply indices by strides std::transform(index_list.begin(), index_list.end(), a.strides(), tmp.begin(), std::multiplies<index>()), // add the sum of the products to the origin *std::accumulate(tmp.begin(), tmp.end(), a.origin()); a.begin() iterator if a is mutable, const_iterator otherwise. This returns an iterator pointing to the beginning of a. a.end() iterator if a is mutable, const_iterator otherwise. This returns an iterator pointing to the end of a. a.rbegin() reverse_iterator if a is mutable, const_reverse_iterator otherwise. This returns a reverse iterator pointing to the beginning of a reversed. a.rend() reverse_iterator if a is mutable, const_reverse_iterator otherwise. This returns a reverse iterator pointing to the end of a reversed. a[idx] reference if a is mutable, const_reference otherwise. This returns a reference type that is bound to the index idx value of a. Note that if i is the index base for this dimension, the above expression returns the (idx-i)th element (counting from zero). The expression is equivalent to *(a.begin()+idx-a.index_bases()[0]);. a[indices] array_view<Dims>::type if a is mutable, const_array_view<Dims>::type otherwise. This expression generates a view of the array determined by the index_range and index values used to construct indices. a == b bool This performs a lexicographical comparison of the values of a and b. The element type must model EqualityComparable for this expression to be valid. a < b bool This performs a lexicographical comparison of the values of a and b. The element type must model LessThanComparable for this expression to be valid. a <= b bool This performs a lexicographical comparison of the values of a and b. The element type must model EqualityComparable and LessThanComparable for this expression to be valid. a > b bool This performs a lexicographical comparison of the values of a and b. The element type must model EqualityComparable and LessThanComparable for this expression to be valid. a >= b bool This performs a lexicographical comparison of the values of a and b. The element type must model LessThanComparable for this expression to be valid. begin() and end() execute in amortized constant time. size() executes in at most linear time in the MultiArray's size. Valid range [a.begin(),a.end()) is a valid range. Range size a.size() == std::distance(a.begin(),a.end());. Completeness Iteration through the range [a.begin(),a.end()) will traverse across every value_type of a. Accessor Equivalence Calling a[a1][a2]...[aN] where N==NumDims yields the same result as calling a(index_list), where index_list is a Collection containing the values a1...aN. The following MultiArray associated types define the interface for creating views of existing MultiArrays. Their interfaces and roles in the concept are described below. index_range objects represent half-open strided intervals. They are aggregated (using an index_gen object) and passed to a MultiArray's operator[] to create an array view. When creating a view, each index_range denotes a range of valid indices along one dimension of a MultiArray. Elements that are accessed through the set of ranges specified will be included in the constructed view. In some cases, an index_range is created without specifying start or finish values. In those cases, the object is interpreted to start at the beginning of a MultiArray dimension and end at its end. index_range objects can be constructed and modified several ways in order to allow convenient and clear expression of a range of indices. To specify ranges, index_range supports a set of constructors, mutating member functions, and a novel specification involving inequality operators. Using inequality operators, a half open range [5,10) can be specified as follows: 5 <= range() < 10; or 4 < range() <= 9; and so on. The following describes the index_range interface. i An object of type index_range. idx,idx1,idx2,idx3 Objects of type index. Type Description index This is a signed integral type. It is used to specify the start, finish, and stride values. size_type This is an unsigned integral type. It is used to report the size of the range an index_range represents. Expression Return type Semantics index_range(idx1,idx2,idx3) index_range This constructs an index_range representing the interval [idx1,idx2) with stride idx3. index_range(idx1,idx2) index_range This constructs an index_range representing the interval [idx1,idx2) with unit stride. It is equivalent to index_range(idx1,idx2,1). index_range() index_range This construct an index_range with unspecified start and finish values. i.start(idx1) index& This sets the start index of i to idx. i.finish(idx) index& This sets the finish index of i to idx. i.stride(idx) index& This sets the stride length of i to idx. i.start() index This returns the start index of i. i.finish() index This returns the finish index of i. i.stride() index This returns the stride length of i. i.get_start(idx) index If i specifies a start value, this is equivalent to i.start(). Otherwise it returns idx. i.get_finish(idx) index If i specifies a finish value, this is equivalent to i.finish(). Otherwise it returns idx. i.size(idx) size_type If i specifies a both finish and start values, this is equivalent to (i.finish()-i.start())/i.stride(). Otherwise it returns idx. i < idx index This is another syntax for specifying the finish value. This notation does not include idx in the range of valid indices. It is equivalent to index_range(r.start(), idx, r.stride()) i <= idx index This is another syntax for specifying the finish value. This notation includes idx in the range of valid indices. It is equivalent to index_range(r.start(), idx + 1, r.stride()) idx < i index This is another syntax for specifying the start value. This notation does not include idx in the range of valid indices. It is equivalent to index_range(idx + 1, i.finish(), i.stride()). idx <= i index This is another syntax for specifying the start value. This notation includes idx1 in the range of valid indices. It is equivalent to index_range(idx, i.finish(), i.stride()). i + idx index This expression shifts the start and finish values of i up by idx. It is equivalent to index_range(r.start()+idx1, r.finish()+idx, r.stride()) i - idx index This expression shifts the start and finish values of i up by idx. It is equivalent to index_range(r.start()-idx1, r.finish()-idx, r.stride()) index_gen aggregates index_range objects in order to specify view parameters. Chained calls to operator[] store range and dimension information used to instantiate a new view into a MultiArray. Dims,Ranges Unsigned integral values. x An object of type template gen_type<Dims,Ranges>::type. i An object of type index_range. idx Objects of type index. Type Description index This is a signed integral type. It is used to specify degenerate dimensions. size_type This is an unsigned integral type. It is used to report the size of the range an index_range represents. template gen_type::<Dims,Ranges>::type This type generator names the result of Dims chained calls to index_gen::operator[]. The Ranges parameter is determined by the number of degenerate ranges specified (i.e. calls to operator[](index)). Note that index_gen and gen_type<0,0>::type are the same type. Expression Return type Semantics index_gen() gen_type<0,0>::type This constructs an index_gen object. This object can then be used to generate tuples of index_range values. x[i] gen_type<Dims+1,Ranges+1>::type Returns a new object containing all previous index_range objects in addition to i. Chained calls to operator[] are the means by which index_range objects are aggregated. x[idx] gen_type<Dims,Ranges>::type Returns a new object containing all previous index_range objects in addition to a degenerate range, index_range(idx,idx). Note that this is NOT equivalent to x[index_range(idx,idx)]., which will return an object of type gen_type<Dims+1,Ranges+1>::type. multi_array multi_array_ref const_multi_array_ref template array_view<Dims>::type template const_array_view<Dims>::type template subarray<Dims>::type template const_subarray<Dims>::type